Understanding The Paint Shortage

The color economy affects nearly every product you purchase. No matter what you buy, soda cans, cars, building materials, and so much more, has a coating on it. However, you may have noticed lately paint is more expensive and getting harder to come by. As we all know by now, many industries were and still are affected by the Covid pandemic.

The Coating industry has been affected by so much more than just the restrictions created by Covid. Quarantined consumers have been working on DIY paint projects and home improvements for over a year now. Sales at paint and wallpaper stores in the US spiked 7.8% annually in June 2021 to 1.34 billion. While the demand for paint has risen, delivery issues, climate change, and manufacturing problems have also affected the paint industry.

The vast majority of pigments are from India and China. Supply chain issues have affected access to these pigments and trade worldwide. Issues such as boats not being able to come to shore, driver shortages, the Suez Canal blockage, climate change causing severe weather, and several other shipping problems. Companies are shipping these materials by Air Freight to keep up with demand but it's also causing costs to rise.

The deep freeze in the south slowed petroleum and plastic production in 2021 and the factory explosion at Lyndon Basell, a global supplier of acetic acid, reduced the availability of this significant ingredient in paint. Once these raw materials finally arrive, they still need to be manufactured before making it to store shelves. Unfortunately, no one has the answers to when these supply chain disruptions will last. Most companies forecast early 2023 before seeing production return to normal.

 In the meantime, please bear with us through these challenging times. Let us know how the staff at Clement’s Paint can help you with a comparable product or perhaps a better way to accomplish the same look. Thanks for shopping with us in Austin, TX.